Sports Club & Gym Equipment Maintenance: What Is It & Why Is It Important?

Commercial gym and sports club equipment is expensive – but it can last for 15+ years with effective maintenance and management. To help you get it right, we’ve rounded up everything you need to know about gym equipment maintenance, including…

• What is gym equipment maintenance?

• What are the benefits of maintaining sports club equipment?

• What does an effective gym equipment maintenance schedule look like?

Let’s get into it…

What is gym equipment maintenance?

Gym equipment maintenance is the process of inspecting, servicing, and repairing gym equipment to keep it operating safely and smoothly. Not only does this extend the equipment’s lifespan, helping sports clubs to minimize the cost of buying replacements, but it also keeps your customers safe while they’re using your equipment.

Because the last thing you want is for someone to get hurt by a faulty running machine or weight bench.

Typically, gym equipment maintenance is performed by external vendors – because gyms rarely want to pay for a dedicated internal team to handle maintenance-related tasks. 

While this is more convenient for sports club owners, it also poses a few problems. Like, how do you know when essential maintenance activities have been performed? And how do you keep track of equipment maintenance status?

Einpix helps. Our contractor management software allows you to view all communications with third-party maintenance teams in a single hub and track equipment status on a case-by-case basis, ensuring you never lose sight of assigned maintenance work.

And it doesn’t stop at equipment maintenance – you can use Einpix to manage other vendors, like cleaning services, building maintenance teams, and more.

What are the benefits of gym equipment maintenance?

Sure, gym equipment maintenance services are an ongoing expense. But they’re also an essential part of running a successful gym or sports club, helping you to:

✔ Fulfil your health and safety requirements

✔ Minimize equipment downtime

✔ Increase the operational lifespan of your equipment

Let’s take a more in-depth look at the specific benefits of gym equipment maintenance…

Meet health and safety requirements

Going to the gym is supposed to keep you fit and healthy – but gyms can be dangerous places, too. Without regular safety checks and maintenance, there’s a serious risk your equipment could malfunction (or just fall apart). And if one of your customers happens to be using a piece of equipment at the point when something goes wrong, they could get hurt.

As a gym or sports club owner, that’s basically the last thing you want to happen.

Retain more customers

If your equipment breaks and causes someone an injury, you’re going to suffer major damage to your reputation. Which, in turn, is going to lose you customers. No one wants to join a gym full of faulty fitness gear.

But it’s not just about the threat of serious injuries. Customers want your gym equipment to look good and run smoothly – it shows that you care about them and take pride in your business. On the flip side, if your gym equipment is always in poor condition (or broken), sooner or later they’ll get fed up and look elsewhere.

Reduce equipment downtime

Customers understand that machinery occasionally breaks down and requires repairing. If a device is out of action for a day, it’s hardly a big deal. But if your equipment is regularly unavailable for weeks at a time, people are going to get pretty frustrated – after all, they’re effectively paying for something they can’t use.

And if this starts to happen consistently, you can expect customers to ditch you fast.

Regular gym equipment maintenance ensures that issues are identified and resolved before they turn into a bigger problem, keeping downtime to a minimum.

Increase equipment lifespan

Everyone knows that if you don’t get your car serviced regularly, it’ll eventually break down – and when it does, it’ll likely cost you a bunch of money to get it back on the road. Sooner or later, something major will go wrong, at which point it’ll be cheaper to just buy a new one.

Gym equipment is no different. Without regular inspections, stuff goes wrong, and repairs can be super expensive. So it makes sense to view maintenance tasks as a way to get the highest possible value from your investments.

Cut operating costs

While gym equipment maintenance costs you money, it can also save you money. Not just by making your equipment last longer, but also by cutting your operational costs – because well-maintained equipment runs more efficiently and uses less energy. All of which can help to lower your utility bills. Nice!

5-step gym equipment maintenance checklist

An effective gym equipment maintenance program typically covers cleaning, repair work, preventive maintenance, data tracking, and – as a last resort – replacement of any equipment that’s outdated or beyond economical repair. Now let’s take a deeper look at the maintenance process…

1. Equipment cleaning

Cleaning might not sound like maintenance, but keeping your gym equipment looking shiny and new can actually keep it running properly and extend its lifespan.

While best practices can vary from one manufacturer to another, there’s rarely anything complicated about cleaning gym equipment. But because cleaning tasks are often performed by contractors, it can be easy to lose track of what’s been done and when.

That’s why you need a field service solution tool like Einpix, which helps you stay on top of cleaning services management by enabling transparent task management, time accounting, and planning.

➔ Learn more: 11 Best Field Service Management Software Tools 

2. Preventive maintenance

If your gym equipment maintenance program is purely reactive, you’re always chasing your tail, hoping that a bunch of equipment doesn’t break down at the same time. Eventually, it will. That’s why you should prioritize preventive maintenance, which reduces the risk of serious problems occurring through… 

✔ Regular inspections

✔ Ongoing servicing work

✔ Minor repairs

Project management holds the key to effective preventive maintenance. You need a clear schedule for when each maintenance task should be performed (and who is responsible for it). And you need to know when it’s been done. For best results, digitize this process with preventive maintenance software – otherwise you’ll constantly be searching through physical paperwork to check the status of various maintenance activities.

3. Equipment repair

Even if you have the world’s most watertight preventive maintenance program, you’re still going to suffer the occasional breakdown. Sometimes, stuff just goes wrong. That’s life.

In reality, preventive maintenance isn’t about completely eradicating downtime. That’s totally unrealistic. Instead, it’s about reducing downtime by ensuring that any faults are relatively minor and can be resolved quickly. 

For instance, if your maintenance contractors notice that a particular part is showing signs of wear and tear, they can order a new one and switch it immediately rather than waiting for it to break completely. As well as keeping your gear up and running, this process can significantly lengthen the equipment’s lifespan – thereby reducing costs.

4. Equipment replacement

With every piece of equipment, there’s eventually going to come a point where the cost of a new one is cheaper than constantly repairing it. 

Your maintenance program should help you identify when units are nearing the end of their life so you’re not surprised when it’s time to buy a replacement. At the same time, you don’t want to replace equipment too early, when repairs are still a cost-effective option.

Ultimately, your goal here is to plan new equipment purchases as far in advance as possible. It’ll help your cash flow and give you the flexibility to buy equipment proactively, rather than forcing you to scramble to replace an old, broken-down model.

5. Maintenance data tracking

Data is the final piece of the gym equipment maintenance puzzle. Without effective data management, you (or your contractor) risk making bad decisions – like replacing equipment earlier than necessary or ignoring a minor fault that turns into a major problem.

Tracking data through sports club management software like Einpix helps you see when every piece of maintenance work has been performed, from cleaning and inspections to repairs and replacements. Think of it as a digital paper trail for all your maintenance-related tasks.

How to plan preventive maintenance for gym equipment

Preventive maintenance saves you time and money by increasing the uptime and lifespan of your gym equipment. And with fewer breakdowns, there’s less chance of accidents (not to mention the resulting reputational damage caused by health and safety issues). But how, exactly, do you plan a preventive maintenance schedule?

1. Take stock of all your assets

The first step is to create an inventory of all your gym equipment – plus notes detailing the types of maintenance tasks each asset requires. This will help you later on in the process when it comes to prioritizing and setting your preferred frequency for individual maintenance tasks.

➔ Learn more: Optimizing Equipment Management with Field Service Management Software

2. Create a priority order

Sure, in an ideal world, you want all your assets to be in full working order, 24/7/365. But you don’t have an unlimited budget for gym equipment maintenance, so you need to prioritize inspections, servicing work, and repairs. 

As a general rule, it makes sense to prioritize expensive, high-value equipment. But price isn’t the only consideration. Other factors include:

✔ Niche: If your gym specializes in cardio workouts, you might want to prioritize treadmills and exercise bikes over weight benches and cable machines.

✔ Availability: Is it easy to source replacement parts and labor for a specific device? If not, it might make sense to inspect it more regularly to minimize downtime.

✔ Complexity: The more advanced a machine, the more can go wrong with it – so it might require special attention to keep it operational.

Ultimately, there’s no right or wrong way to prioritize maintenance tasks, and you’ll likely have to make a few compromises along the way. But remember you can always change things down the line (more on this later…).

3. Plan equipment maintenance frequency

Every maintenance task and piece of equipment is different. To give a basic example, cleaning is a daily task, whereas servicing might be monthly or quarterly. Also, some types of equipment are more prone to problems than others, so they may need more frequent inspections.

Chances are, you’ll need to regularly review task frequency based on maintenance data. For instance, if a specific type of equipment is experiencing a ton of downtime, you might want to step up inspections.

4. Schedule recurring tasks

Once you’ve created a priority order and figured out the ideal frequency of individual actions, you can create a schedule encompassing all your maintenance tasks. This makes your preventive maintenance process far more efficient, because you don’t need to physically tell someone every time a specific device needs inspecting.

➔ Learn more: Scheduling and Dispatching Software: A Comprehensive Guide 

5. Monitor and optimize

Planning your preventive maintenance program isn’t a one-and-done process. Rather, you should regularly review your maintenance data to make sure it’s still fit for purpose. This might involve updating your priority list and/or changing the frequency of various tasks.

Streamline sports club & gym equipment maintenance with Einpix

In some ways, gym equipment maintenance is simple – see a problem; fix a problem.

But in others, it’s fiendishly complex. You might have dozens of assets, all requiring different types of maintenance and to different frequencies. Plus you’re generating a ton of data around device status, downtime, and expenditure. To get it right, you need a solution like Einpix, which helps you:

✔ Track equipment locations across multiple gyms or sports clubs

✔ Organize equipment maintenance history

✔ Register and troubleshoot issues

✔ Schedule maintenance tasks

✔ Share maintenance-related documents, videos, and other files

And that’s just for starters.

➔ Learn more in our pricing section, or check us out by signing up for your free Einpix trial!

FAQs

Does gym equipment need maintenance?

Yes, most gym equipment must be serviced at least once a year – or more often for high-use machines. The ideal maintenance frequency also varies based on factors like the specialism of your gym or sports cub and the manufacturer’s recommendations.

How often should gym equipment be inspected?

Gym equipment requires regular inspections, but the frequency will vary from one device and manufacturer to another. Plus, if certain types of equipment at your gym are especially popular, they’ll likely require more regular inspections. But as a general rule, you should be inspecting gym equipment once a week and servicing it at least once a year.

What is the lifespan of gym equipment?

Gym equipment can last for 10+ years if well looked after and regularly serviced in line with the manufacturer’s guidance. However, this lifespan will naturally depend on the popularity of your gym and the equipment type in question, plus how many units you possess. For instance, if your gym is super busy and you only have one treadmill, it’s going to be in near-constant use – so it might have a shorter-than-average lifespan.